Fed up, frustrated and overworked: That’s how nurses described how they’re feeling at a protest in front of a downtown Toronto hotel on Wednesday.
The rally, which saw hundreds of nurses and allies take to the street, came after a week of bargaining failed to produce a new contract for some 60,000 health-care workers provincewide.
The demonstration was held in front of the Hilton, where a provincially appointed mediator is now aiming to help the nurses’ union and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) hammer out an agreement in advance of the expiration of health-care workers’ existing contract on March 31.
In a fiery speech, Ontario Nurses’ Association president Erin Ariss said her workers have rejected the proposals hospital CEOs have put forward so far.
“It’s no secret what they’re doing in there — trying to dismantle our collective agreement,” she said. “Enough is enough.”
“Maybe it’s time to show the Ford government that we will not be ignored. Maybe it’s time to take it up a notch … Maybe we will take certain actions that we’ve never taken before.”
The rally came one day after Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford called a provincial election where health outcomes could take centre stage.
Why better ratios?
At the demonstration on Wednesday, nurses said their top demand is not higher pay or improved benefits — but better staff-to-patient ratios.
In place in B.C., California, and more than a dozen other U.S. states, nurse-to-patient ratios guarantee a minimum number of registered nurses per unit to help manage patient loads and provide high-quality care.
A pair of longtime registered nurses at Wednesday’s demonstration told TorontoToday that improved ratios are their top priority in this round of bargaining.
“We’re always working short [staffed], the patients are getting sicker, and we’re all getting burned out,” said Pauline, a registered nurse at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
The health-care worker, who asked that only her first name be used, said in their surgical ward, one nurse is sometimes responsible for as many as eight patients.
When that occurs, Pauline told TorontoToday patients have to wait to have their wounds dressed, for medication, and for families to receive instructions about how to support their relatives at discharge.
All of it results in worse patient outcomes, she said.
Several studies have found that mortality increases alongside the number of patients each nurse treats. One study from Pennsylvania found in-hospital mortality rose by eight per cent for each additional patient added to nurses’ workloads.
Last fall, the Government of Ontario announced more than $500 million aimed at increasing the number of nurses in provincial hospitals. A portion of the funding was directed toward helping internationally educated nurses get working in Ontario hospitals faster.
But data released in 2023 by the Canadian Institute for Health Information showed Ontario was last among all provinces and territories in the number of registered nurses per 100,000 people.
That year, Ontario had 610 registered nurses per 100,000 people compared to 649 in Alberta, 674 in B.C. and 759 in Quebec.
In a press release about those findings, Ariss argued the province needed 25,000 additional registered nurses to keep up with the national average.
Union leaders decry health-care ‘privatization’
In a release about the failed collective bargaining process, Ariss alleged the provincial government is intentionally understaffing hospitals in an effort to replace some public hospital services with private clinics.
Over the past several years, the Ford government ramped up the number of medical procedures that can be offered in private clinics.
The government has said the changes will reduce wait times for surgeries and diagnostic scans, improving patient care.
But on Wednesday, Ariss and others argued this is the wrong approach.
“Years of understaffing by hospital employers have resulted in crushing workloads,” she said. “Violence has skyrocketed and the CEOs and Doug Ford are doing nothing to fix it.”
“Ford’s been roaming around with his little hat that says ‘Canada isn’t for sale’ – yet he’s been selling out Ontario’s health-care system since he’s been elected,” she said.
Next steps in labour negotiations
Over the next several days, the nurses’ union and hospital CEOs will continue discussions on the contract with a mediator assigned by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
The mediator does not have the power to impose a contract, but will suggest possible ways for the two parties to settle their issues.
If an agreement cannot be reached, the matter will proceed to adjudication before the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
